The Kanto War
by Mr. Chump Time
Summary: Quick blurb I did a while back as a self-writing exercise. Might continue, might turn it into something else. M for Violence


The Kanto War

Chapter 1

A cloudless sky punctuated the crisp early spring morning. It was on this day, Malcolm Ketchum dreaded for weeks. As a fit man of 25 years, he stood at the tail-end of mandatory conscription for the Kanto Army. Due to border problems and a brief insurgency in the east with Johto, Malcolm found himself drafted into the Pallet Town division. On that bright morning, Malcolm jogged into formation with the rest of his local comrades, while most of the small community watched.

The drill officer barked his orders into their faces, commanding them to board the open-beds of two Dodge WC-62s. His best friend and neighbor, Simon Oak, sat along side him as they departed east, while their families waved them off. _At least the sun is shining on us_ , he thought to himself. He hated leaving his young wife Delia to look after their affairs by herself, but the two had no choice. A heartfelt farewell from the previous night still rang true in Malcolm's ears that spring morning.

"So I hear that we're just on light duty," Simon shouted over the loud engines trucking over Route One, "Sitting at border patrol for a few days, it shouldn't be too bad."

"I hope not," Malcolm commented. The borders between Kanto and Johto had been unstable since the Kanto had separated from their eastern neighbor seven years prior. The two regions had little in common, other than that of language and common area. Simon himself had been born in the Johto region, before the United Nation's Partition of Johto. In fact, the entire Oak family emigrated to Kanto after widespread fears of ethnic cleansing wracked the eastern nation. Malcolm hailed from Cherrygrove City himself, leaving right around the same time as well. Kanto provided asylum for refugees fleeing the widely oppressive regime in Johto. A bloodless coup resulted in peace talks between Kanto separatists and the new regime. Headed by civilian Johto leader Gordon Lloyd and his younger Pokemon-bound brother Pryce, the Indigo Summit was held.

The partition had been relatively peaceful, with the Indigo Summit yielding fruitful results; Kanto becoming its own nation, while Johto still retained trade rights in valuable ports along its coasts. However, this peace was short lived. The flood of refugees that poured into Kanto cities, such as Celadon and Saffron, proved to be too much for the Johto government to handle. The new regime collapsed to a military junta, after the brutal assassination of Lloyd, bent on curbing the influx of immigration to their neighbor. Now, the newly formed Kanto Republican Army mobilized itself to protect its borders from the increasingly fascist Johto.

The night before, Delia and Malcolm dealt with the draft notice. Malcolm had received it in the mail around a week before, but he hid it from his wife, for fear of her reaction. She showed no emotion initially, but that evening, it had been different. Malcolm hid his emotions as well; showing the study stoicism which his wife had grown accustomed to when plans went awry. But the evening before he left, it was different. After preparing for bed, Malcolm sat on his side of the mattress while Delia spread the sheets out for herself, "Malcolm?" she asked, "Are you coming to bed."

He hesitated for a moment before responding, "I don't know how bad this is going to go tomorrow."

"They said it was only a mobilization," Delia crawled across on her hands and knees to his back, sitting beside him, "It shouldn't be too long."

"I don't know about that sweetie," he turned to face her, tears beginning to stream behind his glasses, "I never wanted to leave you. And we get pulled into all this."

"Honey," she embraced him, stroking his thick black hair, "It's going to be fine, don't you worry about leaving me here. I took pretty damn good care of myself before you came along, didn't I?"

Malcolm chuckled before heavily weeping into his wife's shoulder. "I can't do this. I just can't leave you behind. Everyone can go fuck themselves, I just want to be with you," his coarse baritone whimpers drove Delia to tears of her own.

"I love you so much," she replied, nuzzling her nose in his hair, "I know everything will work out for us. I promise."

"I'm scared. I don't want to lose you. I don't want you to lose me."

She lifted his head to her own and kissed him on the lips, "We'll make it through this. You're going to be my hero, I know it," They kissed for longer, before falling back on the bed. Malcolm rolled on top of Delia, punctuating his kisses with a long, gentle pull on her lower lip. Delia rolled her nightshirt up and nodded for Malcolm to continue. The young couple proceeded to make love for the last time before Malcolm left.

Night had passed over the bunker. Malcolm sat up, gripping his M1 watching over the barbed wire hill on Route 27. Sounds of wild Pokemon filled the night, covering actions for anyone attempting to mobilize or move across the barriers. Malcolm tried his best not to fall asleep, but the buzzing of Venonats seemed to lull him away. A unnatural noise began to rise behind the hill, getting closer with every passing minute. In a daze, Malcolm began to realize where the sounds bellowed from; diesel engines. Waking in an instant, Malcolm shook Simon awake, "Simon!" he shouted, "Johto's turning over tank engines!"  
"They've done that before, Malcolm," Simon brushed it off, "There's nothing to worry about."

" _They're getting closer!_ " He cried when a tank shell ripped through the air, knocking out one of the trucks behind them in a fireball.

"Holy shit," Simon sat up, "What the fuck are we doing?"

"Whatever we can!" Malcolm shouted, while taking shots into the dark. Miles ahead, tanks began firing into Kanto territory, signaling the start of the preemptive invasion. Ground forces, seizing on the shock, stormed over the barbed wire-laden border and charged up the hill. Mitchell, thinking quickly, grabbed a hold of the old water-cooled Browning machine gun and began to fire into the horde of Johto troops.

Not knowing anything else, Malcolm shot until his rifle was dry; repetitively reloading at the classic "ping" of the clip flying out of his rifle. He tried his best to aim, but had a difficult time seeing the enemy in the dark. It was better that way; Malcolm never wanted to honestly know who or what he shot and killed in combat. Simon thought differently. He knew what had happened to his own family at the hands of Johtoese troops. The more he could kill, the better.

Glancing over, Mitchell replied, "I'm nearly out of ammunition! You guys go grab some belts from the rear bunker, I can hold them off for a bit!"

Nervous, Malcolm replied, "Sure thing!" Mitchell outranked him, so he had little choice. Simon offered cover as they ran back to get more ammunition from the supply tent in the rear. A brief look upwards, Malcolm could see the gate-tower explode from a direct shell hit; showering the base like fireworks. Simon decided to haul the ammunition back, due to firing his rifle dry, while Malcolm agreed to cover fire for him. When they returned, however, the bunker had been hit with a tank blast. All that was left was various bits of clothing and blankets that the three used to keep warm earlier that evening.

"Where the hell do we go now?" Simon shouted as they knelt down for cover.

Looking to the left, Malcolm saw an M16 half-track, front axle shot out, "There! Let's get in it!"

"Are you kidding?"

"It's got guns, doesn't it?" Malcolm replied, running towards it. He hopped into the quad gun, swiveled it to face the oncoming rush of Johto troops, and fired. The sound of the cannons ripped through the early morning air, with muzzle flash so bright that the entire battlefield illuminated for brief seconds. Realizing what he was doing, rather than shooting into the dark, Malcolm clenched his teeth and fired into the horde. Simon sat behind the shield, watching to assist Malcolm in any way he could.


End file.
